broken laptop question

what specific model vaio is it?

laptops are largely non-repairable. and the screen is generally the most expensive components of the device.

you could purchase a used unit off ebay and do the screen swap yourself - though i've taken vaios apart, and, well, let's just say it's sometimes been work to put them back togehter

doody.

 

A8, while Doody's suggestion is plausible, here's what i would do before taking his advice... Get yourself a desktop computer screen, hook it up to the Vaio and get EVERYTHING off of that computer that you need/want...

Then, once you've done that, go ahead with doody's suggestion...

i broke the screen on an Acer lap top i had (still have it; makes a nice dust collector) and the screen itself was cracked, so i couldn't see ANYthing... Tried hooking it up to a desktop computer screen, but it wasn't adaptable; the computer won't even turn on now, even with battery power... i'm pretty much screwed for everything that was on there... Figure out a way to hook up a computer screen to your Vaio and get everything off of there or somehow back it up before you go tinkering... Let us know how it goes...

 

Laptop screens uses a miniature fluorescent tube (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamps) to provide illumination behind the screen. Chances are this is what is defective.

If you google it, you can find companies that replace these (I have no experience with ANY of them) such as http://www.jkllamps.com Poke around enough and you are sure to find someone that can replace the tube.

NNO, you can buy a 2.5 to 3.5 IDE adapter for the drive in your laptop. It's a simple operation to plug the adapter into the mini laptop drive so you can hook it up to your PC to grab the data off of it. Like this unit shown here: http://www.everythinglinux.com.au/item/MF325H

 

Hey, Scarface, thanks... The thing is ancient and if i've managed to make it these last 4 or so years without it, i'm sure i'll be fine if i never get the information again... Most of it was porn, anyway... Just a few things i'd written and drawn were on there that was hoping to retrieve, but buying an adapter and then hooking the thing up to something else and yadda yadda - it won't even turn on with plugged-in-battery power and it doesn't have a cd drive, so it's pretty much worthless... i don't even know why i still have it... i should just get rid of it... It'd be one less thing collecting dust in my apartment... Thanks for the help, though, i DO appreciate it...

 

Can't believe no one has suggested this yet, but- have you tried adjusting both the brightness and the contrast? This happened to my on my IBM ThinkPad years ago out of the "blue", typically there are keyboard combinations that you can use to change screen settings that are apart from the ones that are actually ON THE SCREEN.

Does that make sense? Two sets of screen adjustment controls.

I use all Sony, all the time and they are rock solid.

Good luck!

 

David, I certainly hope your screen issue is a small one.

I had small Vaio notebook before and the screen failed twice. Granted, Sony has good design and ergonomics for their notebooks, but their screens suck! At least, that's my experience anyway.

The first failure happened when a black shadow appeared in the bottom middle of the screen. I took it in and got the screen replaced FOC under warranty. The 2nd screen was only good for a few months then a thick white border appeared around the screen, like a photo frame. The warranty had already expired by then, so I didn't bother getting it fixed. It would've cost $600 or so to replace, so it was a non-starter.

Switched to a Compaq and was quite happy with it. For some reason, Compaq gets low reviews, but my experiences with Compaq notebooks are generally very good. Have used more than 6 different Compaq notebooks over the years and none had any serious screen issue. I am always trading up. The most serious one was a reddish color to the screen.

 

Is your vaio still under warranty? If so, get it fixed ASAP for free. A 17" screen with high-res is going to be very costly to replace. My guess is the replacement cost will cost over a grand.